Tonya got her first real job with a major airline as soon as she graduated from college. She didn’t realize what a good problem solver she was until her first job evaluation. Tonya’s review included these comments: Very resourceful—thinks of creative ways to solve problems. Handles obstacles conscientiously.
Generates alternative solutions when solving problems. Tonya says she learned to solve problems on high school committees and on backstage crews of community theater productions. “I was the one behind the scenes, holding things together. I never got a part in a play, but I put scenery together. And if the spotlight didn’t work, I’d figure something out. If we
needed stairs or a window for a set and didn’t have them, I’d manage to improvise.”
Tonya hadn’t been working at the airline long before coworkers discovered her problem-solving
skills. “People started coming to me with little problems. I’d fix them. But this time, they noticed. I got a reputation as a problem solver.”
DON’T TRY THIS AT WORK
Jared’s first job was with a food-service company in New Jersey. He took the position because he needed the money and liked the hours. The company had a few customer-service problems, but Jared never thought that his company’s problems had anything to do with him personally. After six months, Jared received his first employee evaluation:
Isn’t alert to problems Can’t handle complex problems or identify key issues, Slow to take action, n Needs to be persistent in problem solving, Seldom generates more than one solution to a problem
Jared admits he deserved the poor rating. He explains, “If a customer came to me with a problem, my standard answer was, ‘That’s not my responsibility.’ Maybe I’d tell the customer to ask somebody else. If our division didn’t meet production standards, it wasn’t my fault. Not my problem, I thought.”
Jared’s evaluation woke him up to the importance of becoming a problem solver. He started paying closer attention to his company and his customers. He began to take on problems he hadn’t considered his responsibility before. And Jared’s next evaluation turned out much better.
Generates alternative solutions when solving problems. Tonya says she learned to solve problems on high school committees and on backstage crews of community theater productions. “I was the one behind the scenes, holding things together. I never got a part in a play, but I put scenery together. And if the spotlight didn’t work, I’d figure something out. If we
needed stairs or a window for a set and didn’t have them, I’d manage to improvise.”
Tonya hadn’t been working at the airline long before coworkers discovered her problem-solving
skills. “People started coming to me with little problems. I’d fix them. But this time, they noticed. I got a reputation as a problem solver.”
DON’T TRY THIS AT WORK
Jared’s first job was with a food-service company in New Jersey. He took the position because he needed the money and liked the hours. The company had a few customer-service problems, but Jared never thought that his company’s problems had anything to do with him personally. After six months, Jared received his first employee evaluation:
Isn’t alert to problems Can’t handle complex problems or identify key issues, Slow to take action, n Needs to be persistent in problem solving, Seldom generates more than one solution to a problem
Jared admits he deserved the poor rating. He explains, “If a customer came to me with a problem, my standard answer was, ‘That’s not my responsibility.’ Maybe I’d tell the customer to ask somebody else. If our division didn’t meet production standards, it wasn’t my fault. Not my problem, I thought.”
Jared’s evaluation woke him up to the importance of becoming a problem solver. He started paying closer attention to his company and his customers. He began to take on problems he hadn’t considered his responsibility before. And Jared’s next evaluation turned out much better.
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